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A retrospective study of antibiotic de-escalation in patients with ventilator-associated pneumonia in Malaysia

Khan RA, Aziz Z

Int J Clin Pharm, 2017 Aug;39(4):906-912.
PMID: 28643112 DOI: 10.1007/s11096-017-0499-2

Background Antibiotic de-escalation is an important strategy to conserve the effectiveness of broad-spectrum antibiotics. However, the outcome of this strategy for the treatment of ventilator-associated pneumonia (VAP) has not been widely studied in developing countries. Objectives To evaluate the outcome on intensive care unit (ICU) mortality, 28 days mortality, and length of ICU stay among VAP patients who receive de-escalation therapy. Setting This study was conducted in an ICU of a Malaysian public hospital. Method The electronic medical records of patients who developed VAP in the ICU were retrieved and relevant data was collected. Records of antibiotic prescriptions were also reviewed to collect the details of changes to antibiotic therapy (de-escalation). Main outcome measure Impact of antibiotic de-escalation on mortality. Results The mean age of the 108 patients was 46.2 ± 18.2 years; the majority being males (80%). The antibiotic de-escalation rate was about 30%. Out of this, 84% involved a change from broad to narrow-spectrum antibiotics and the remaining, withdrawal of one or more antibiotics. ICU mortality was 23% while 28 days mortality was 37%. There was no statistically significant difference in mortality rate, survival probability and the mean length of ICU stay between the de-escalation and the non-de-escalation group. However, patients with Simplified Acute Physiology Score II of ≥50 were significantly associated with ICU mortality and 28 days mortality. Conclusions In VAP patients, antibiotic de-escalation provides an opportunity to promote the judicious use of antibiotics without affecting the clinical outcomes.
A hospital-based study on ischaemic stroke characteristics, management, and outcomes in Sarawak: Where do we stand?

King TL, Tiong LL, Kaman Z, Zaw WM, Abdul Aziz Z, Chung LW

J Stroke Cerebrovasc Dis, 2020 Sep;29(9):105012.
PMID: 32807427 DOI: 10.1016/j.jstrokecerebrovasdis.2020.105012

BACKGROUND: Located on the Borneo Island, Sarawak is the largest state of Malaysia and has a population distinctive from Peninsular Malaysia. The ischaemic stroke data in Sarawak had not been reported despite the growing number of patients annually. We aimed to investigate patient characteristics, management, and outcomes of ischaemic stroke in Sarawak and benchmark the results with national and international published data.
METHODS: We included ischaemic stroke cases admitted to Sarawak General Hospital between June 2013 and August 2018 from Malaysia National Stroke Registry. We performed descriptive analyses on patient demographics, cardiovascular risk factors, prior medications, smoking status, arrival time, thrombolysis rate, Get With The Guidelines (GWTG)-Stroke measures, and outcomes at discharge. We also numerically compared the results from Sarawak with the published data from selected national and international cohorts.
RESULTS: We analysed 1435 ischaemic stroke cases. The mean age was 60.1±13.2 years old; 64.9% were male; median baseline National Institute of Health Stroke Scale was seven points. Hypertension was the most prevalent risk factor of ischaemic stroke; 12.7% had recurrent stroke; 13.7% were active smokers. The intravenous thrombolysis rate was 18.8%. We achieved 80-90% in three GWTG-Stroke performance measures and 90-98% in four additional quality measures in our ischaemic stroke management. At discharge, 57% had modified Rankin Scale of 0-2; 6.7% died during hospitalisation. When compared with selected national and international data, patients in Sarawak were the youngest; Sarawak had more male and more first-ever stroke. Thrombolysis rate in Sarawak was higher compared with most studies in the comparison. Functional outcome at discharge in Sarawak was better than national cohort but still lagging behind when compared with the developed countries. In-hospital mortality rate in Sarawak was slightly lower than the national data but higher when compared with other countries.
CONCLUSION: Our study described characteristics, management, and outcomes of ischaemic stroke in Sarawak. We achieved high compliance with most of GTWG-Stroke performance and quality indicators. Sarawak had better outcomes than the national results on ischaemic stroke. However, there is still room for improvement when compared with other countries. Actions are needed to reduce the cardiovascular burdens for stroke prevention, enhance healthcare resources for stroke care, and improve intravenous thrombolysis treatment in Sarawak.
Fulltext A Systematic Review of the Efficacy of Centella asiatica for Improvement of the Signs and Symptoms of Chronic Venous Insufficiency

Chong NJ, Aziz Z

Evid Based Complement Alternat Med, 2013;2013:627182.
PMID: 23533507 DOI: 10.1155/2013/627182

We aimed to assess the efficacy of Centella asiatica for improvement of the signs and symptoms of chronic venous insufficiency (CVI). We searched 13 electronic databases including the Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials for randomised controlled trials assessing the efficacy of Centella asiatica for CVI. Two review authors independently selected studies, assessed the risks of bias of included studies and extracted data. The treatment effects of similar studies were pooled whenever appropriate. Eight studies met the inclusion criteria. The pooling of data of similar studies showed that Centella asiatica significantly improved microcirculatory parameters such as transcutaneous partial pressure of CO2 and O2, rate of ankle swelling and venoarteriolar response. Three out of the eight studies did not provide quantitative data. However, these studies reported that patients treated with Centella asiatica showed significant improvement in CVI signs such as leg heaviness, pain and oedema. Our results show that Centella asiatica may be beneficial for improving signs and symptoms of CVI but this conclusion needs to be interpreted with caution as most of the studies were characterised by inadequate reporting and thus had unclear risks of bias, which may threaten the validity of the conclusions.
Fulltext A Parametric Time-to-Event Modelling of Recurrent Ischemic Stroke After Index Stroke Among Patients With and Without Diabetes Mellitus: Implementation of Temporal Validation of the Model

Elhefnawy M, Noor Harun S, Leykhim T, Tangiisuran B, Zainal H, Looi I, et al.

Cureus, 2023 Dec;15(12):e50794.
PMID: 38239519 DOI: 10.7759/cureus.50794

Objectives Compared with the first stroke, neurological impairment caused by stroke recurrence is more serious, more difficult to treat, and has a higher mortality rate, especially among ischemic stroke (IS) patients with diabetes mellitus (DM). Although there are established correlations between factors and IS recurrence, there were some issues regarding the naive hazard of IS recurrence with no risk factor influence, and how does the baseline hazard differ among patients with DM and non-DM? To answer all these questions, two time-to-event (TTE) models of recurrent IS after the index IS were developed among IS patients with DM and non-DM. Method A total of 7697 patients with an index IS attack were extracted from the Malaysian Registry of Neurology and stratified according to DM status. Several parametric survival models were evaluated using nonlinear mixed-effect modeling software (NONMEM 7.5). The final model was determined according to the lowest objective function value, graphical evaluation, numerical diagnostics, and clinical plausibility. Additionally, the final model was validated internally and temporally using Kaplan-Meier visual predictive checks (KM-VPCs). Results One hundred ninety-five (5.82%) of 3493 DM patients and 138 (3.28%) of 4204 non-DM patients developed a recurrent IS with a maximum follow-up of 7.37 years. Gompertz's model best fitted the data. With no influence on risk factors, the index IS attack was predicted to contribute to the hazard of recurrent IS by 0.356 and 0.253 within the first six months after the index IS among patients with and without DM, respectively. Even after six months of index IS, the recurrent IS baseline hazard was not equal to zero among both groups (0.0023, 0.0018). Moreover, after incorporating the time and risk factors, the recurrent hazards increased exponentially during the first three years after the index IS followed by an exponential reduction afterward. The recurrent IS predictors among DM patients were ischemic heart disease (IHD) and hyperlipidemia (HPLD). IHD and HPLD increased the hazard of recurrent IS by 2.40 and 1.88 times, respectively, compared to those without IHD and HPLD before index IS (HR, 2.40 (1.79-3.20)), and (HR, 1.88 (1.44-2.45)) respectively. Conclusion The baseline hazard was the highest during the first six months after the index IS. Moreover, receiving medications for secondary prevention failed to demonstrate a significant association with reducing IS recurrence among IS patients with DM, suggesting a need for more intensive patient screening and new strategies for secondary prevention among IS patients with DM.